Vibrating Sample Magnetometer Using Unimorph Piezoelectric Actuator

A vibrating sample magnetometer with a unimorph piezoelectric actuator as vibrating mechanism is proposed in this paper. By adopting a piezoelectric vibrating mechanism, we could achieve both high sensitivity and small-sizing of VSM. To enhance the sensitivity, the optimal vibrating frequency was investigated by a set of FEM structural analysis. When an alternating voltage was applied to the unimorph piezoelectric actuator, the acryl cantilever is vibrated transversely. At the end of the cantilever, on which a magnetic specimen was attached, the maximum vibration amplitude was similar to 1.6 mm at 160 Hz. The proposed VSM showed high resolution similar to 2 x 10(-5) emu due to an extremely large vibrating amplitude, even if it has an extremely small size (30 x 25 x 25 cm(3)) compare with conventional VSMs.